DAISY SAYS HELLO

It happened again today, and as usual it came out of the blue, when I least expected it.  Daisy said hello.

Daisy lives at the Rainbow Bridge now, but for 14 years she filled our lives with joy, unconditional love and happiness only dog lovers can understand.  

Shortly after we had lost her, I was outside wandering around and being sad, missing her.  I went over to her garden we had built and there waving in the breeze was one perfect daisy.

I might have gone along with conventional wisdom that it was a coincidence had my mother not gotten into the picture.  I showed her the flower, told her that I had been thinking of Daisy and i would like to think it was a little "hello" from her.  Mom put on a big act of being affronted that Daisy hadn't sent her a daisy, grinning all the while.


The next day I went to check on my daisy and there beside it was another bloom saying "Hi, Grandma!"  My husband and son were away while all of this was going on.  When I went out to the driveway to meet them when they got home, I told them the story and pointed to the garden where my and my mother's blooms were....right next to two new ones.  


That was it for the daisies, no more popped up, but periodically, once or twice a year, in different places one will bloom to let me know that my Daisy still loves me and is waiting for me.  Today's bloom was hidden unless you were mowing, otherwise you didn't have any reason to be in that part of the yard.  Daisy was just saying hello.

Tonight when Marti curls up against me at bedtime, I will know it is not just one, but both of my baby girls snuggling with their mama.

Mandy's Upsa Daisy Mae

UMLAUF GARDENS - AUSTIN, TEXAS

Reclining Nude

Nestled in  Austin, Texas is an escape from the hustle and bustle of the city.  With a couple of ponds connected by a flowing stream and waterfall, wooded acreage, and a gazillion birds singing it is easy to forget the day and immerse yourself into the talent of Charles Julius Umlauf and others.  The wheel chair accessible path leads you easily through the sculptures with benches and plenty of shade. 

Charles Umlauf was born in Michigan in 1911, the son of French and German immigrants.  He was eight when the family moved to Chicago.  There a school teacher recognized his talent and was able to help him get scholarships for summer sessions at the Art Institute of Chicago.  He married in 1937 to a fellow student at the Art Institute where he continued his studies along with studies at the Chicago School of Sculpture.  The couple moved to Austin in 1941 and Umlauf was a professor of art at the University of Texas.  He remained with the university for 40 years.

In 1985 the Umlauf's gave their home, studio and 168 pieces of his art work.  The city is responsible for the grounds and upkeep on them and The Friends of the Umlauf Sculpture Garden maintain the museum, do the fund raising and promotion of the exhibits.

Beautiful Oaks

A Stream Runs Through It

Porch Sitters Welcome

The sculptures of Charles Umlauf and those exhibited here with him are eclectic in form but each grabbing your attention and making you pause to study it a bit more..  My particular favorite was ... ok so I had three favorites actually.

 

 Lazarus the Beggar 

above

John the Baptist

Crucifixion of Christ

Mother and Child

There is so much more to see.  Click on either link below.

Information to visit in person can be found at

Umlauf Sculpture Gardens

and if you can't make it in person there are more of my photos at:

More Photos by Rosie

A JEWEL OF A FRIEND

     The opening line of a poem I wrote several years ago read "Once into the diamonds of my life fell a ruby..."  Although this was not written about my best friend, it easily could have been.  For he, too, "stood unique amongst all the others."

      The winter I met him was the worst in the history of the area according to the meteorolgists.  While snow drifted into banks above my head and Arctic winds blew, we cemented our friendship over hot chocolate and warm cookies, in front of a blazing fire.  By the time the spring thaw came, we were inseparable and spent our childhood going from one adventure to the next.  We were dragon slayers; pirates; cowboys and Indians; and alien beings from other worlds, coming to conquer all they saw.  He was always the daring one, staying in the woods one night, eluding detection by the search party that had been formed.  When he was found the next morning I was waiting after a sleepless night, crying tears of joy that he was safe.  I was so proud of his bravery that morning, but also angry that he had scared me as badly as he had.  He was able to join me at my grandparents' farm one summer and that opened new avenues for our imagination.  We filled hot Texas days roaming through the cotton and corn fields, swimming in the muddy waters of the creek, climbing to the top of the willow trees, and daring each other to ride the cows (the cows dared us to try, too!)

     September brought us back to reality and schoolwork.  True to our form though, we would sit together on my big front porch and recite multiplication tables, memorize state capitals, and make elaborate plans on how to dress for Halloween.  When the studies became too intense, or boring, we would rake leaves, only to destroy the carefully constructed piles by jumping into the middle of them.  Sitting on that front porch, we shared the dreams of youth, questioned the wisdom of adults, and promised to be friends forever.  Forever lasted until my early teens.
     Teenage girls were supposed to have female best friends, not some dumb looking guy that dressed funny (I always thought he was cute, not weird).  So, knuckling under to peer pressure, I turned my back on my best friend and immersed myself into makeup, hairdos, and who was dating whom at the high school.  There was no longer the sharing of secrets, anxieties, and unrealistic goals with someone that didn't judge or criticize.  No longer were the transgressions of my childhood diminished in magnitude with the telling of them to my friend.  He, and he alone, knew that I took a quarter from my mother's purse to buy candy, and where I hid the excess (in my dog's stomach).  He, and he alone, knew that I whispered "damn" in church to see if anything would happen (it didn't.....yet).  And he, and he alone, knew the times I watched as my older brother told his girlfriend goodnight (because he was with me watching!).  I missed my best friend, but was too insecure to stand up to my new friends and demand he be included.
     Years went by without my knowing where my friend was, but not without wondering.  One cold Christmas, my friend entered my life again, thanks to my mother.  She had known all along where he was and had retrieved him from the attic, sewed a new skin on him, replaced his eyes, put a big bow around his neck, and hid him in the bottom of another gift.  Teddy and I were together again.  He sits in his own rocking chair in my bedroom now:  a place of honor for my life-long best friend.

ROUND TOP continued

Next on our list of sights was Shakespheare at Winedale and the Historical Center.  There was a geocache (GC1VOTO)  listed so we stopped at the visitors center first to pick it up.  While we were in getting literature and a map of the historical center, Jezebel lost her signal and threw a temper tantrum.  The lady, Beth, working the front desk sort of jumped and asked what that was!?!  I told her it was my GPS and asked if she was familiar with geocaching.  Oh my yes she was, had done some with her daughter, and thought it great fun.  She was surprised when I told her there was one right out the front door and immediately she jumped into action heading out with us to find it.  Beth was a wealth of information before we drove through the grounds, a good ambassador to Winedale, and fun to be around...a new best friend!

Shakespeare at Winedale is actually a part of The University of Texas founded by a professor to study Sakespeare by actually performing in his plays.  Students spend two months in the summer studying and performing in the 19th century barn that is used as an open air theater.  The whole complex is part of UT.  More information can be found at:

http://www.shakespeare-winedale.org/events/ 
http://www.cab.utexas.edu/museums/winedale_intro.php

The barn where the plays are performed is actually an example of a barndominium (which is a whole lot easier to type than to say) although there is no proof it was used as such.  When settlers would come to the area the first priority was to protect their investments, their livestock, so they would first build a barn to shelter the animals but have a living area attached.  It's proper name is a traverse crib barn because of the corn cribs across from each other.  It is constructed of oak logs, hand hewn with some long cedar beams.  It is one of the few barns of this type left in Texas.

The Wagner House

The Wagner house was actually built by Samuel K. Lewis but was bought by the Wagner family in 1882 and they held the property until 1961 when it was sold, and then resold to Ima Hogg (daughter of Governor Jim Hogg and a patron and collector of the arts and  Texas heritage was known as a philantrophist).  Ms. Hogg restored the house and filled it with furniture and period pieces.  It is available for tours by appointment.  As a matter of note, Ms Ima did NOT have a sister by the name of Ura.  Ima's name came from a poem her daddy liked.

Entering the grounds there are smokestacks on the left stand alone on a piece of land.  The building they were attached to was a dormitory and burned to the ground as a result of an electrical fire.  No one was hurt or lost their life, but this is all that is left of the building today.

Further down the road is the McGregor House, built by Dr. Gregor McGregor on land owned by his wife but adjacent to his property several miles away from its present location.   When Dr. McGregor retired and moved to Waco the house was sold and then turned into a tenant house.  Again Ms. Ima Hogg came to the rescue and bought the McGregor house and had it moved to the present location.  She had it placed at the back of the property so it would not compete with the Wagner house and leave them both with majesty and grandeur.  It is made entirely of local wood such as ash, cedar and walnut.  When furnishing the home, Ms. Hogg made the decision to use only furniture made by Texas craftsmen, contributing many of the pieces from her own collections.  Again this home is available for tour by reservation.

The McGregor House

We startled this little (hah!) guy on the drive back to the McGregor house.  Sure was a beauty but sure didn't like us invading his territory.

The sightseeing over with we headed back to town for some serious retail therapy starting with The Copper Shade Tree in Henkel Square in downtown Round Top.  Oh my what wonderful wonderful works of art are displayed here.  I wish my pocket book was a little heavier, I would be a proud owner of a fountain for the deck if so.  Donations can be made, call for the address.    Check them out at www.coppershadetree.com

Henkel Square is a beautiful little shopping area, operated by the Texas PioneerArts Foundation.  There are plans to put a community center in the middle in time for Octoberfest.  Very ambitious.  The church had an artist inside stenciling the ceilings.  I can't wait to see it when they are through.  All in all a wonderful time looking, touching, and thinking about its.  Pat even startled a little lizard while we were walking around.  OK OK so it wasn't so little but the important thing is it did have legs!!!

Finally the day was drawing to an end, and we headed back to break out the wine and cheese and crackers on the porch of the Farmhouse at Round Top Inn.

We were forced to sit in those rockers with our wine staring at this.....

As long as I have known Pat, I never knew she was a lizard magnet...there we sat drinking our Kool Aid and here came Lawrence Elmer Lizard.  First he stopped and stared at us, then he threatened us, then he really got ticked off, and finally he gave up and went back to napping.

All good things must come to an end....and our time on the porch was no exception.....

Running on empty now....

BUT WAIT!!!!!!

There is always room for one more antique shop

 Until next time....keep your ears open and listen for the whispers of the back roads, you never know what they might tell you.

FUZZY BOLOGNA TRANSFORMATION

Time out from all the fun in Round Top to show you what I left....a beautiful fuzzy bologna.

And I came home the next day to this....a sleek beautiful sophisticated lady.

Guess it beat combing burs out of her hair, working them out of her mustache, and cutting them out of her top knot, but dang I miss my fuzzy girl.

ROUND TOP, TEXAS

My long time friend and I escape every couple of months to sip wine, poke around antique shops, visit local attractions and just catch up on life.  This time it was to Round Top and the hospitality of The Round Top Inn. www.roundtopinn.com/

Cigar Factory

Wandke House

Gate House

 

With plenty of time on my hands, I made sure my GPS, Jezebel,  was set to avoid freeways and off we went.  She took me at my word and after a short distance down Hwy. 71 we were on one lane roads with nobody but the cows for company.  I knew it was going to be a good trip when I passed Greasy Bend Road!  Beautiful scenery and lots of wildflowers, but no where to pull over to take a good picture.  I did pick up the camera a couple of times and did some drive by shooting.

What I saw through the windshield!

Much nicer than a billboard or semi....

Drive by shooting...fields and fields of yellow and white.

 

The Round Top Inn was beautiful, immaculate both the room and the grounds, and we couldn’t wait for our day to be over so we could come back and sit on the porch in the rocking chairs and sip that glass of wine.  But there were things to see, places to go, and new friends to meet along the way.  After unloading the cars we took off for the world’s smallest active Catholic church (their brag, not mine, but I don’t doubt it since it is only 12x16').  I learned about this church through Geocaching.com, and we easily found the cache (GC28QME).  I love to geocache and I find interesting sites like this one through that hobby.

St. Martin's Catholic Church - Warrenton, Texas

 

Inside you will find a book similar to a ledger to write a prayer request, since the priest only visits monthly (I believe); offerings and religious icons.  There is a reproduction of a painting of St. Martin of Tours above the altar.  The original did hang here for many years but in 2002 it was determined that the painting was done by Johann Ignaz Berger, a prominent Czech ecclesiastical painter of the 19^th century.  It was one of 7 paintings brought by immigrants to their new church in Fayetteville, St. John the Baptist.  The other 6 were stored after the original church was torn down and a new church built.  Since then the seven have been restored and hang in the church they were meant to be.

Interior of the church showing the painting of St. Martin of Tours

An offering on the altar

Holy Water

 

With our souls restored, it was time to restore our bodies and off we went to the world famous Royers Round Top Café  for lunch.  Although they are famous for their pies, we were too full after sharing a hamburger and a shrimp BLT to indulge.  Just the visit to Royers is worth the trip. 

Royers Cafe

 

No problem if you are having trouble reading the menu….each table comes with its own pair of reading glasses.  Trying to decide on who to vote for president in the upcoming election….Royers has the answer.  Antsy while waiting for your food…don’t bother bringing a book, read the walls!

Reading glasses on each table

Yep, he'd be my choice!

The whole place is like this....fascinating.

 

If you are going to eat here, the drinks outside are on the honor system…well maybe.

 

Body and soul satisfied, we headed for the herb farm

ROUND TOP / FESTIVAL HILL HERB FARM

Madeline Hill and her daughter Gwen Barclay had a very successful and renown restaurant and herb farm north of Houston.before they moved to Festival Hill right outside of Round Top.  Gwen is an accomplished musician and Madeline had plenty of room to grow her herbs, they fit right into the lifestyle of Festival Hill known as a mecca for performing arts.  Founded by James Dick a world known pianist it has grown to be a internationally acclaimed European styled music institute.  Madeline's gardens were adjacent to the institute and she styled them after Roman ruins.  Rock work throughout the gardens keep the theme alive.

Tucked here and there are many varieties of herbs in splendid color at this time of the year.  Throughout the gardens rosemary was abundant, very suitable since it is known to be the herb of remembrance and Madeline will long be remembered for bringing the beauty and knowledge of herbs to the world.  There are many fascinating legends associated with rosemary, good for a Google break!

Here are some of the plants we saw as we walked around.  Unfortunately not all were marked as to what they were, and I don't know a dandelion from a lily so call them what you want.  You will have to go to the farm yourself to experience the Heavenly aromas.

 

Madeline had included a Pharmacy Garden with God only knows how many varieties of plants used to cure illness.  One was a pretty plant in its own right and called a "toothache plant".  I Googled it and it is the numbing effect of the leaves and stems that gives it its name.  Chew awhile and the numbing effect will work on a toothache...think I will stick with Orajel.

Toward the back of the farm is a beautiful pond with stonework, of course.  It was interesting that one side of the bridge the pond was beautiful and on the other side the horror of pond scum! had invaded.  Made me wonder what the difference in the two parts of the pond were.  The bridge was grinning like it knew a secret that it wasn't telling.  My friend Martha loves smiles, so this one was for her.

Dr. Jekyll

Mr. Hyde

There is a lot more to see besides the pond and the plants, tucked here and there are benches, statuary, a bottle bush, and even a cemetery highlighting the trash we all are guilty of adding to land fills.  It made for a lovely stroll. 

Simple yet beautiful statuary.

Something to think about

An old seeder

Bottle bush

After wandering around we ended up at Festival Hill before getting heading back to the car to head out to Shakesphere at Winedale.

Festival Hill